I am one of the world’s leading experts on small business and entrepreneurship. I am the creator and award-winning host of the syndicated radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, a syndicated columnist and author of Small Business Is Like a Bunch of Bananas and Three Minutes to Success. I have received awards and recognition for my work and leadership on behalf of small businesses from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC), American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), New York Enterprise Report, FORTUNE Small Business and TALKERS magazine. Google ranks me as the #1 small business expert.

2. How well you balance where the business stops and your personal life starts.

There actually are times when being one with your business is not only a good thing, it’s essential. But extreme commitment weaves a fine seam between business and owner. And unfortunately, entrepreneurial single-mindedness will often result in the opposite of what is intended: a business in jeopardy run by an unhappy human.

The best way to be successful AND happy is to be able to define success in many ways, including having a life that’s balanced with richness outside of the business. Getting that new customer on board is an essential part of your business’s future. But making the time to attend a child’s activity in the middle of the day is also important to the long-term well-being of your business.

A small business is more like a patchwork quilt than a gilded security blanket. Some patches represent good things and some not so good. Some patches are about the business, others are about the owner, and some are hard to tell. Happiness will be found by those owners who can feel successful regardless of which patch is in front of them.

Having multiple touchstones of success, not just money and stuff, helps keep the rough patches in business and life in proper perspective. If you became a small business owner to find financial success, good for you; as a capitalist I admire that motivation. But if you think being rich will make you happy get your umbrella out, because I’m going to rain on that parade with these two truths:

1. Wealth only provides options, not a guarantee of happiness.

2. If you can’t be happy without money and stuff, you aren’t likely to be happy with it.

Now let’s talk about fun.

The most successful business owners I know are those who have learned that one of the keys to their success is to run a tight ship while encouraging their people to laugh and find joy in their work. Every day that goes by without some kind of joy is a precious opportunity lost.

Two final thoughts:

1. Think of happiness as a business best practice and a success fundamental.

Write this on a rock —

Learn how to define success in more ways than just money and stuff. And don’t forget to have fun.

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Jim Blasingame is the author of the new book, “The Age of the Customer: Prepare for the Moment of Relevance.”

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